FIVE UP:

1) The opening scene had some good and bad, but I loved the opening scene from Tyrion’s perspective:

a. I enjoyed how Randyll Tarly called Tyrion out for killing his father. It’s definitely something that haunts Tyrion and will continue to do so. Tyrion’s internal struggles are a major theme this season and watching him wrestle with his emotions is a treat (see below).

b. I really liked how no matter what Daenerys did, Tyrion kept challenging her and pushing back. Every time she went into Mad Queen mode Tyrion objected and came back with a smart/sensible response. Put them in a cell, send them to the Wall, do ANYTHING but burn them alive. He doesn’t’ care that he’s on thin ice with her (see last episode), he wants to be merciful. He realizes that this continual war has killed enough people and it’s time for it to stop. That or the whole thing about needing more men to fight the White Walkers....

2) Circling back on Tyrion vs. his emotions….this episode did a great job of portraying his internal struggle. Here’s how it went for him:

a. At the beginning he was protesting Dany’s decisions and trying to be responsible (above). He wanted to avoid killing men who had surrendered and take the diplomatic approach.

b. Later on we see him drinking with Varys and trying to justify Dany’s behavior. He was trying to justify her actions and suppress his hesitations from earlier.

c. As that conversation closed he pivoted. He then started to plot with Varys and was trying to figure out a way to change things.

d. This reminds me of my thought process during busy season. At first I protest and feel pain as I watch innocent weeknights/weekends get torched. I then drink it away and try to justify it. Later on I come to grips with it and work to find a way forward.

e. Overall the progression was great and I really enjoyed watching Tyrion go through that struggle. While the writing/story line was great, the acting put it over the top. Dinklage for the win.

3) I’m in a generous mood so I’ll throw the friend zone a bone here……even though he gets no bones…..BOOM. Anyway I enjoyed that Jorah is not gonna stick around Dragonstone and kiss Daenerys’ dragon-ass. I don’t wanna see more of the passive-aggressive pickup lines and cringeworthy friendzone moments. Now he’s actually going to do something and head back North for the first time in our show (let’s remember he’s a Northerner). Also, we’ll be able to figure something out that I’ve been wondering about – do the white walkers/dragons have anything to do with greyscale? Will his greyscale make him immune to the touch of the walkers? Idk why I wonder about that. Maybe because Shireen was on Dragonstone when she got greyscale and Jorah himself contracted greyscale while going through the ruins of Valyria - which is where dragons come from. Idk I doubt anything will come of it but I wondered about it. I'm probably grasping at straws here.

4) I love how Littlefinger is playing Arya right now. She thinks she’s this all-powerful, all-knowing faceless man/assassin/best sword fighter in a martial world even though she’s never fought in a battle and has only trained with swords for a few months, BUT Littlefinger is still playing that game. I was worried the show was gonna have him go out with a whimper, but right when I zigged they zagged and Baelish is back. Littlefinger hasn't done much lately, but like the Wu Tang Clan he aint nuttin ta fuck with.

5) I also enjoyed the conversation between Jaime and Tyrion near the dragon skulls at King’s Landing, These two actors are awesome together and have had a few good scenes. The scenes during and after Tyrion’s trial were some of my favorite that season – season 4. (LINK) I also liked it because this is one of the few – if not the only - brother-brother interactions we get in this show. Think about it, are there any sets of brothers left on this show? Any brothers that don’t want to kill each other?

FIVE DOWN:

1) The wildlings at Eastwatch use scouts but the Lannister army doesn’t??? WHAT THE FUCK GOT (throwback to one of my complaints from last week).

2) I hate how Randyll Tarly was killed off so soon. I liked his character a lot and was really hoping for some final standoff between him and Sam. After all, Sam did steal his most prized possession/family heirloom. That or a moment where Sam makes his dad proud and proves to him that martial strength isn’t everything. To make it worse the Citadel didn’t even tell him! I really would have liked to see Sam’s reaction upon finding out his dad/brother died.

a. Having said that, maybe this will create some conflict between Sam and Dany? He’ll be on Jon Snow’s side, but I can’t imagine he’s gonna love her after she killed his Dad and brother.

b. Tangent: Although he’s sorta still in the Night’s Watch, Tam is technically the Lord of Highgarden, the Lord of Horn Hill and Warden in the South – positions his father held.

3) I hate that Bronn is leaving Jaime and I really hope the show doesn’t fade him the way it did early this season. If it is the end, their last major convo was great:

a. Bronn: Listen to me cunt…..Til I get what I’m owed, a dragon doesn’t get to kill you. You don’t get to kill you, only I get to kill you.

b. Jaime: That was only one of them……she has two more. If she decides to use them, to really use them….

c. Bronn: You’re FUCKED.

d. Jaime: Don’t you mean “we’re fucked”?

e. Bronn: No I do not, dragons is where our partnership ends.

f. Me: LOL

4) I hate that Cersei may be able to make it out of this scott-free. I hate her she always escapes things and gets saved at the last minute. Ned’s failed coup, the Battle of the Blackwater, her trial and now this.

5) I really didn’t like how Dany read the Tarlys “their rights” before burning them alive. You’re going to try and be proper and noble and all that shit, but then BURN PEOPLE ALIVE? Mind you they were men who surrendered and didn’t even have weapons. All propriety and nobility goes out the window when you burn thousands of men alive - get off your high horse you hypocrite. This reminds me of the Harold and Kumar scene with George W Bush where he calls them hypocrites….

6) If you didn’t catch it the first time, go back and watch the scene where Gilly and Sam are going through the scrolls.

********SPOILER ALERT********

If you caught it, you heard that Prince Rhaegar had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled and then married someone else in a secret ceremony in Dorne. This was obviously Lyanna Stark, who they found in Dorne at the Tower of Joy.

I don’t like this because it means Jon is not a bastard anymore. The character who’s built his whole personality off being a bastard, the character who said “I’m a bastard” 10,000 times and the guy who won “The Battle of the Bastards” is not a bastard…….BOOOOOOOOOO. That takes so much away from who he is. Imagine me finding out that I wasn’t actually a twin? So much for all of those Tyrion/Jon convos from season 1 where he says lines like “all dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes”. So much for his friendship with Gendry – whoops, your dad actually killed my dad and was best friends with my uncle…… and was obsessed with my mom and was originally supposed to marry her. Awkwardddddd

Tangent: I’ve seen some people compare this to King Henry VIII and his annulment to Catherine of Aragon in the 16th century - which led to the British separating from the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation. I don’t like the comparison. While the general theory is similar (royal annulment), the circumstances are entirely different. The reason Henry wanted an annulment is because Catherine was originally married to his older brother (yes yes he wanted another woman too). According to Leviticus 20:21, "'If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless". Whatdya know, Henry and Catherine were unable to produce an heir. Henry had legitimate religious arguments for his annulment and was actually the King of England. In spite of his reasonable argument and position, Henry had to work for 8 YEARS to achieve his annulment (1525-1533). It was a fiasco, an international affair. Meanwhile, *Prince Rhaegar Targaryen achieved his in secret and in the matter of a few months. The annulment in this scenario is way less believable/practical and as I said before – takes away from the story.

PS – if you haven’t seen the Tudors on Showtime, put it on your list. It’s awesome (TRAILER)

7) Jon Snow went north and DIDN’T GO TO WINTERFELL? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The whole time he was in Dragonstone he was talking about leading his people and how he couldn’t bend the knee. Meanwhile Sansa and everyone in Winterfell have no idea what he’s been up to or how things are going. He didn’t feel the need to go and update everyone? Or tell everyone who thinks dragons don’t exist that……yeah, there are three dragons the size of semis and they just destroyed the entire Lannister army……. Also - he found out Arya/Bran were there and alive yet he couldn’t make a pit-stop? YOU KNOW NOTHING JON SNOW.

a. It woulda been so much better if he went to Winterfell, had a reunion and found there was unrest. Then he would have to wrestle with the decision of going up North, or staying to rule. It would have been a nice internal conflict for him and woulda forced another Jon vs. Littlefinger encounter.

FIVE IN BETWEEN:

1) Idk how I feel about Sam leaving the Citadel. On one hand, those scenes were some of my least favorite this season. It’s just more of Sam Tarly being a comic book character – not following rules, breaking into secret libraries, curing greyscale, having sex with women despite taking TWO separate vows of celibacy, cutting off the lead Maester in the middle of his meeting and NOT getting immediately dismissed, etc etc. On the other hand, he’ll get to head North with a Valyrian steel sword and some* knowledge of the White Walkers. I guess he’ll head up North to team up with Bran?

2) Once again Daenerys looked immaculate after a battle. Despite the fact that there was blood and guts and smoke and ash everywhere, her hair was perfect and her outfit was unsullied (Commish for the win). Let’s add this to her list of magical powers which include:

a. Effortless ability to put men in the friend-zone

b. Telepathy (she 100% has a mental connection with Drogon)

c. Telekinesis (she can control fire as evidenced by last season’s Dosh Khaleen fire)

d. Flying on dragons

e. Perfect hair skin and nails at all times (what are your secrets?!?!)

f. Super powers of hypocrisy (says she’s not here to murder and then proceeds to murder).

3) I wonder if Daenerys noticed or cared that the majority of the men did NOT want to kneel to her and only did because of her dragon. Even after the dragon screeched at them, there were a solid number of guys (including Tarlys) who did not kneel. Only after she went Korean Barbecue on their asses did all of them kneel. She’s not the savior she thinks she is and I wonder if this will impact her mindset going forward.

4) While I like the character Gendry I’m a little meh on the fact he was brought back. One of the cool things about GOT is that there are so many unresolved plot lines that leave us wondering. They allow people to create theories and generate discussion (did Olenna actually die, did Stannis actually die, where is Daario, where is Salaador Sahn, etc). They don’t have to close every single plot line and I wouldn’t be terribly upset if some were left open. After all – are we really supposed to believe the world will be peaceful and normal after the show ends?

a. Also – Gendry’s getting killed off. That’s what they do when they bring back random characters we haven’t seen in a while....FINISH HIM

5) Why did Arya call Sansa out for not defending Jon? I thought she did defend him…..did she not? She told the men “he’s our king” and that he’s doing what’s best…. What am I missing? There isn’t much else Sansa can do here. Jon doesn’t tell her jack shit and as I mentioned, didn’t even bother stopping by Winterfell. He just makes decisions without telling Sansa and she has to deal with the fall-out. I thought Sansa made some really good points and Arya was just being a psycho.